Of Zenies and Steel
by Erihppas
Summary: 3 Swordsmen, 1 Merchant. Together, they venture around Rune Midgard. Each has their own secrets and goal. What obstacles will they meet? Can they survive each other?


**Author's Note:**

Well, what shall I say? This is my first fic, so forgive me if it sucked ' I'm trying my best to improve my writing! This fic was inspired by companions of mine in eRO. We were playing the new Player Killing server and that's how I got the idea.If there are any grammar error, feel free to review and tell me. Now, let the story began!

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_"Lee..."_

_"Yes, Hazel?" A young redhead swordsman turned at the honey color hair female magician and looked at her questioningly. She looked at him in the eye, then whispered the three words he feared to listen. _

_"We are over."_

_He looked at her in shocked, then slowly, it turned sorrow. "Why? What have I done?" he asked nervously. He doesn't understand. He was afraid to lose her. She turned her back on him._

_"I'm... sorry" That was the last thing she said before she ran away._

_He tried to chase her, but she was getting further and further that it became clear to him that he could not catch her. His leg gave away and he fell onto the floor, tears poured over his cheeks. "Please..." he begged, his voice cracked with sobs. "Come back! HAZEL!!!!!!"_

And he woke up.

He quickly wiped away the tears that were on his face.

"That dream again..."

**CHAPTER 1: COMPANIONS**

"You gotta be kidding me. The blade is sold for 10,000 zeny!? I could buy dozens of meat with that kind of zenies!" exclaimed Kim How angrily at a male merchant. The other swordsmen and swordswomen nodded angrily.

Lee Kim How, a swordsman with flaming red hair. He's 16 years old this year and still single, of course. Currently level 30/21-

(Kim How: Hey, stop revealing my personal info to the readers!)

Fine, fine. Kim How was trying to find a better weapon in the Izlude weapon/armor store.

As you peeps know, Izlude is where most of the swordsmen are born. An honorable knight once quoted "The place where those who wish to become Knights gather to train, Izlude." There is a ferry which takes you to Alberta, and an express ship which takes adventurers the underground dungeons, Byalan Island. King Tristan III built an arena to promote professionals throughout the nation... or so it was said in a web- I mean, the Rune Midgard History Book which could be found in the Prontera library..

Anyway, he noticed a bunch of swordies (short for swordsmen or swordswomen) gathered around a merchant, who was selling his expensive weapons to the others. Kim How could not believe the weapons are so expensive and argue with the merchant. This is where the story takes over...

The merchant shook his head, and grin widely. " 'Tis no ordinary blade, sire! The blade is made of the finest metal! It's different from other blades! It's special! I, Hedge can swear, sire!"

Kim How was not satisfied.

"Right, why don't you prove it to me?" Kim How challenged.

Hedge the merchant took the blade and swung it onto the floor with all his might.

**THUNK!**

"Told ya, sire!" Hedge raise the sword, grinning and placed it on Kim How's hand. "No damage! It's a fine sword, sire!"

Kim How examined the blade, along with the other swordies. The merchant was right. No scratch no chip was found on the sword. In fact, it was gleaming, as if it was newly forge. Kim How slowly touched the blade, feeling the coolness of the metal. Finally, he rummaged his pocket for his zenies. "I'll take it."

"A wise decision, sire!" the merchant's grin widened, his eyes even sparkled. He was about to accept the Kim How's zenies until a female voice interrupt them.

"The Blade is a fake."

Everyone looked around for the source of the sound. Some swordies made way for a female merchant. She has long purple hair, tied up in... bah, just go see those original female magician pictures and you will understand what her hair is like. She was wearing a hat, dragging a cart behind her. She gestured at Hedge's weapon. "The weapons are a fake too. I bet if I swung all these on the ground, they'll snapped into half instantly." She said coolly.

"Bullshit!" a spiky green hair male swordie exclaimed. "He showed it to us! They're all real!"

Hedge went to the female merchant and grins nervously. "Madam, I know you're angry because I have lots of customers, but that doesn't mean you have to lie to them and said my stuff are fake."

Instead of becoming angry and wanting to start a fight (which Kim How expect her to do so), the female merchant smiled in return. "_Lying_, am I? We'll see." she pointed at Hedge's Special Blade. "Can you lend me your blade?"

After Hedge hands her his blade, the female merchant raise the blade and swung it onto the ground.

**SNAP!**

Everyone gasped as the blade snapped into half. Kim How stared at the 'Blade' dumbly while Hedge gave shrieked and pointed at the female merchant accusingly. "You broke my Blade!!" he shouted.

The female merchant looked at him coldly and replied, "Of course. It's a fake Blade, made of some cheap metal. Besides... if a Blade is made of some other metal, it wouldn't be call blade at all. It might be called Tsurugi, or Balmung, or maybe Katana. One more thing, a real Blade won't break that easily."

"B... but, he prove to us!" a female swordie protested. "He swung it on the floor and nothing happen!"

"That's because his STR(strength) is low." said the nameless female merchant, wearing a bore expression. "Now, let me show you idiots what's a real blade" She went to purchased a Blade and swung it HARD onto the ground.

**CRAAAAAAAACK!!!!!**

No one in the store will ever forget the impact of the ground and the blade shape hole the female merchant made. The Blade was not broken or snapped into half, thankfully... although the side of the blade was chipped a little, but no one could blame it since the merchant swung it hard. Everyone ooh'ed, fascinate at the female merchant's STR instead of the hardness of the blade.

She threw the Blade onto her cart. "Now who wants to buy this blade? I'm selling it cheap." she asked. Several swordies crowd around her, purchasing the Blade and some of the stuff in the cart. Hedge grumpily walked away, pulling his cart along.

An hour passed before the crowd started to disperse. Kim How approached to the female merchant, who was packing her stuff into the cart and keeping the zennies into her bag. When she saw him, she smiled. He felt his cheeks redden. He did not know how to approached a lady... especially when the lady just saved him from being cheated.

"H... hi, what's your name?" Kim How manage to stammered.

The female merchant answered casually, "Just call me Shayla."

Shayla the merchant. Age 17 and still single with a level of-

"Ahem, quiet please." Shayla interrupted the authoress rudely. Kim How sweatdropped.

"Erm... I'd like to thank you for..."

"Oh, that merchant?" she interrupts him before he could finished. "No problem."

Shayla dragged her cart along her and opened the door to exit. Kim How knew he could not just leave it like that. He quickly chased after her, calling her, "Hey, miss Shayla! Wait up!"

Shayla turned and glanced back at him curiously as she took a step outside-

-and a swordsman bumped onto her. She and the swordsman sprawled to the ground, her cart overturned and stuff spilled out of the cart.

"Miss Shayla!" Kim How ran, wanting to helped Shayla up but she merely slapped his hand away.

She picked her hat up and dust her skirt. When she saw her cart, she exclaimed, "MY CART! MY STUFF!!" and went to picked the stuff up. Some of the bottles of potions cracked. Colorful liquids were spilled on the ground. Shayla hissed angrily as she picked up the broken bottles. The person who knocked her down along with her cart is going to pay.

The swordsman who bumped her was rubbing his head. He has long brown hair, tied up into a ponytail. He also has a long lock of hair hanging down in front of each ear (Bard's hair). He quickly stood up, and was about to ran until Shayla grabbed his collar and slammed him onto the wall.

"Let me go!" The swordsman struggled, trying to pushed her away.

"Not until you apologize and pay for the stuff you broke!" Shayla growled, trying to keep him from escaping. Suddenly, they hear more footsteps and 3 Hunters stopped in front of them.

"We finally got you, you _bastard_!!!" The hunter in the middle exclaimed. The other two hunter raised their expensive Gakkung, aiming for the swordsman.

"Yeah, _bastard_, we finally got you!" The hunter at the right yelled.

Got you, _bastard_, we finally!" The hunter at the left shouted.

The swordsman manage to broke free and hide behind Kim How, trembling. Kim How looked at the hunters nervously. Paranoid thoughts started to rushed at him. '_What are the hunters doing here? Oh great, are they hunters sent by someone to assassinate me!? But I didn't do anything!... Could they be hunters sent by Hazel? Naaah... Damn, they're pointing at me! Saaaave me, Odin! I'm too young to die!_' Suddenly, Kim pulled out his katana, rushed at the hunters.

"What the-" The hunters did not have any chance to finished their sentences as their head rolled onto the floor. Blood splattered on the floor and the three bodies dropped onto the ground. Kim How laughed maniacally while shed his bloody sword. That happened in another dimension.

In this dimension, Kim How just stood on his ground, trembling along with the swordsman behind him.

The female merchant looked at the hunters. Unlike Kim How, she wasn't nervous.

"What brings the hunters of the Twilight Guild here?" she asked.

The middle hunter answered, "I am Baros Walter, leader of the guild. This swordsman owe us millions of zenies! Not only that, he tricked us by selling us a FAKE slotted muffler! It was not slotted at all!-"

Shayla sweatdropped, not believing what she had heard. A hunter? Fell for such a cheap trick? The swordsman who hid behind Kim How interrupt, "Well, you're stupid enough to believe me without even checking whether the muffler is slotted or not!"

"Shut up, twerp! Before we filled your back with our arrows that everyone will think that you're a Caramel and finish you off!" The hunter at the right side of Baros warned.

"Not only that," Baros continued. "He insulted us! Calling us a Orc Lady's bastards! Insulted our guilds! Our members!" Baros shook his head angrily as he aimed his Gakkung at the swordsman behind Kim How. "You shall pay for this, swordie."

Kim How waved nervously. "Wait! He's hiding behind me! You'll shoot me!!" he shrieked hysterically.

"Oh, no worries." Baros answered as he pulled the string of his Gakkung. "My DEX is over 90. Small chance I'll shoot you... but anyway, if my arrow got you, please forgive me... even if it kills you" Then, he fired the arrow. Kim How screamed, the swordsman behind him closed his eyes and Shayla gasped.

Suddenly, there was a swish and a small stone that fell onto the floor. An arrow was embedded on it. Everyone looked at the stone in shock.

"Tsk. Tsk. Are hunters suppose to be bullying the weak?" a blue hair swordsman stepped out behind a tree, holding a pile of stones. He faced the hunters. "Why don't you come back later? Until he became a knight? After all, it's useless fighting him. If you kill him now, you won't feel any accomplishment! Right, sir?" He turned, looking at the still nameless swordsman who was hiding behind Kim How. The swordsman quickly nodded.

"Fine!" Baros exclaimed. He hung his Gakkung onto his shoulder and glared at the swordsman. "If I ever see you again... you won't make it alive..." He turned his guild hunters. "Come on, troops, let's go hunt something!"

As the hunters walked away, the swordsman came out of Kim How's back and shouted at them, "May the fleas of all savages rest upon your genitals!!!" and quickly jumped back as three arrows embedded themselves inches near his shoes.

"Soooo, swordsman. What's your name?" Kim How asked that swordie Baros was after.

"Kevin." he replied casually, digging his nose.

Kevin, a young swordsman. He is same age with Kim How and of course, still single. His level is 29/20. Kevin is a sly swordsman that fooled several people only for zenies. He is rude too, therefore earning himself a lot of enemies and getting himself into a lot of trouble. He's a bit perv-

**BASH!**

Everyone sweatdropped as Kevin bashed the poor authoress with his katana and exclaimed angrily, "Hogwash! I am not rude! Besides, why is the authoress describing only Kim How, Shayla and I?"

"Maybe because we are the main characters in the fic" the swordsman who just saved Kevin life suggested cheerfully.

Shayla looked at him curiously and asked, "What about you? What's your name?"

"Me? Well, my name is Kyden!" the swordsman replied. "As for my information... the authoress shall tell you!"

Kyden, a swordsman with blue (wizard) hair. His age is unknown, for he was

Kyden quickly shut the authoress up, still smiling as if nothing happened. The others managed to hear his age.

"Wait a min, age unknown?" Kim How looked at Kyden curiously. Kyden shrugged back.

Shayla put her finger beneath her chin, thought for a while. Then she looked at Kyden. "Are you cursed or something?"

"Cool, you're a Dracula?" Kevin asked, his eyes gleaming. "I've heard of them, but I didn't see them before. Do you have those long fangs that allowed you to bite someone and absorb their blood? Can you turned into a farmiliar? Can you turn me into a Dracula? Can you-"

**BASH!**

"Ouch!"

"Please give Kyden a chance to talk." Shayla said calmly, holding some sort of stick, covered by papers.

_'I didn't know merchants could bash' _Kim How thought silently.

Kyden shook his head, laughing. "Naaah, if I'm one, I wouldn't be out there! On such a fine weather too!" He gestured at the clear blue sky.

Kevin looked at his watch. "Right, I better be going! Nice meeting you guys!" he exclaimed and was about to walked away, never to be seen again IF Shayla did not pulled his sleeve.

"Ahem, I think you forgot something, mister Kevin," Shayla smiled dangerously as she griped his sleeve. "You have to pay for my stocks you broke!"

Kim How grimaced. He got a really bad feeling that something bad is going to happen.

"Ohh, the stocks... er..." Kevin tried to wriggled out of the female merchant's tight grip. "I'll... pay... you... back... later!"

Shayla rolled her eyes, replying, "Suuuure, as if I'd believe that after I saw what you did to the hunters from the Twilight guild. You must have think I'm stupid."

After she said the word 'stupid', Kevin quickly broke out of her grip and ran away. Shayla gasped and quickly chase him, pulling her cart along her while screaming at him. "WAAAIT! THIEF!! STOP HIIIM!!!!" Kyden and Kim How sweatdropped as they witness Shayla chasing Kevin. Kevin stuck his tongue on the angry female merchant as he saw her chasing him. It was clear to Kim How that Shayla could not catch him, for a) The cart was too heavy, b) She was not used in using a cart and c) Her AGL is too low.

"Shall we chase them?" Kim How asked.

"Naaaaah, let the-" Kyden's replied was interrupted by a scream.

The scream was by a girl. Normally, Kim How would ignore it, but that voice seemed familiar. _'Wait a minute... could it be...' _He and Kyden gasped and looked at each other.

"It's SHAYLA!" They both exclaimed at the same time.

**TO BE CONTINUE...**

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**Author's Note:**

Note that most of the things written in there are fake... though Baros really exist, and he really wanted to kill Kevin because he insulted him. Love it? Hate it? Suggestions? Criticism? Please review!

So... In your opinion, who's your favourite character among the 4?

Kim How  
Shayla  
Kevin  
Kyden

Write your opinion in the reviews!


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